Never Blind
by Anne Phoenix
Summary: Alex thought he had found someone who really cared for him ... which made Ben's lies hurt all the more. Written for the Spyfest 2010 anonymous fic exchange. One-shot. No prior knowledge of Torchwood required!


Story Notes:

Written for Jusmine for Spyfest 2.0

-

**Title:** Never Blind  
**Pairing(s) :** Alex/Ben  
**Summary:** Alex thought he had found someone who really cared for him ... which made Ben's lies hurt all the more. Torchwood crossover.  
**Rating:** R  
**Disclaimer:** All Alex Rider characters herein are the property of Anthony Horowitz and the Penguin Group. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Warning(s) :** Violence, Cross-gen pairing  
**Word Count:** ~9,000 words  
**Author's Notes:** Jusmine, I tried to incorporate as many of your preferences as possible. This fic was great fun to write, so I hope you enjoy it! Beta read by Capeofstorm and Ionaonie.

**Never Blind**

"Where are you going?" Alex grumbled as he felt the bed shift.

"Been called out again," his lover responded in his strong Liverpudlian accent. "Sorry," he continued before Alex could say anything. "I know it's been frequent lately, but hopefully I'll be seeing the end of this mission soon."

Alex said nothing. He turned his back and pretended to go back to sleep while his lover got dressed. Inside, he was anything but rested - his heart was pounding hard against his ribs. Ben had told him all about the undercover mission: he was posing as a security guard during a major international weapons exchange on UK soil. The job was another secondment to MI6 and sounded like a fairly routine job, but as Alex concentrated on keeping his breathing steady, he could think only of one thing: _Ben had lied._

Ben had told Alex that his undercover identity was 'Daniel Benson'. But only a few hours earlier, Alex had overheard a telephone conversation that had sent his whole world into turmoil. He knew he shouldn't have used his latest MI6 gadget to eavesdrop, but he'd been feeling uneasy about this so-called mission for a few days already. In fact, a small part of him had even wondered if Ben was sneaking around because he was seeing someone else, although that was silly of course; if Ben wanted to be with someone else, he'd just leave Alex and be done with it. Using the wave catcher Smithers had given him, Alex had listened in as Ben was briefed by a stern-sounding man with an American accent. The man had known exactly who Ben was - he's known his real name and had even jokingly referred to Ben as 'Foxy'. Clenching the wave catcher, Alex had not been able to believe what he was hearing. He'd felt like he'd been punched in the gut. He'd guessed the man was the American boss of the operation, and if the man knew who Ben really was and was not just employing him but apparently relying on him and trusting him, then ...

Alex heard the front door slam shut and slipped out of bed. No. He didn't want to believe it. Ben couldn't have gone rogue. He just _couldn't_.

Alex knew they weren't as close as they perhaps could be, but Ben wouldn't betray him, would he? ... Not after all they'd been through together. They'd been reunited on a particularly gruelling mission. Alex had been kidnapped by a Saudi sheik and held in a desert compound. The mission was physically and emotionally exhausting - he'd been tortured for information he did not have. Ben - or Fox as he was known in those circles - had been part of the Special Forces team that had rescued him. Alex remembered the man's strong arms carrying him away from the horror. Unable to leave the country, the team had hidden in a Saudi Arabian safe house for a few weeks. Ben had tended to Alex's injuries and had awoken him from his nightmares. Ben had nightmares of his own, however, and Alex was able to return the favour. They ended up seeking some kind of solace in each other's arms, remaining careful not to get caught by the other soldiers.

That search for mutual comfort had continued for a while in London after the mission. And then the arguments started. In Saudi Arabia, Ben had taken Alex with all the care and respect of an equal. Back in the London, however, Ben had begun to push Alex away. Alex was too young, too inexperienced, too innocent, too-

Alex remembered screaming at Ben. Why did Ben keep on fucking Alex if he was all those useless things? Alex had cried, too, and punched Ben in the face when the older man once again used age as an excuse to end their illicit affair, like age had _stopped_ Ben from pressing Alex against the wall and biting, sucking, _fucking_ him only a few days before. That punch had turned into a proper fight - they'd battered each other until all their inhibitions were torn apart - and then they'd fucked again, hard and fast as though there would be no tomorrow.

Ben had seemed to accept Alex after that, and more importantly, had accepted his own immoral attraction to a boy far younger than him. Alex was happy to be Ben's dirty little secret - the sex was releasing and sometimes they'd lie in bed and confide in each other. They spent so many evenings together that Jack had given up asking where Alex spent his nights. No one else cared.

But now, Alex knew that it was all a front. Ben had lied and it was time to find out why.

Fastening his jeans, Alex skipped down the stairs and stepped out into the night. Ben had taken the land rover as expected, unaware of the small transmitter Alex had hidden under the driver's seat. He pulled out his Nintendo DS now and looked at the screen to see where Ben was heading; another gadget courtesy of MI6. Then he went to the shed to get the mini-quad bike he had dragged up on the train from London.

Tonight, he would put an end to the lying and the sneaking. One way or another, Alex Rider was going to figure out what the hell Ben 'Fox' Daniels was up to.

****

The signal from the tracker stopped moving by a large warehouse on an industrial estate about twenty minutes from Bristol. Alex had no trouble locating the land rover, which was parked with several other vehicles along the side of the warehouse by a wooded strip of land. Alex didn't know the area, but was quick to take advantage of the darkness. He slipped on a black balaclava to ensure his fair features would not be too obvious in the dark and circled the warehouse once to get his bearings. It was about as large as a small aeroplane hangar and there were bright lights inside. There were several doors, and Alex has just started considering his options when a small side door near to him suddenly burst open. A group of men in military-style combats marched out. Holding his breath, Alex drew back into the shadows, making himself as small and hopefully as invisible as possible. He averted his eyes as the four-man patrol marched briskly past, their footfalls perfectly in sync. The men's uniforms and face masks looked like they were standard army issue and the four of them moved with military precision; but they wore no dog tags and Alex was unable to make out any insignia or identifier. He still had no clue what _or who_ he was up against here. It hurt him to think that one of the men could be Ben, but he knew he couldn't give in to the pain of the betrayal.

When he was sure that the patrol had moved out of his area, he slipped from his hiding place in the shadows and carefully entered the warehouse through the side door. The main hall of the warehouse was right ahead, large, bright and busy. Alex could hear several different voices. Moving as silently as possible, he kept to the side of the hangar. A shadow was cast across this area from a metal mezzanine above, providing some cover. He was safe in the darkness, but he knew that as soon as he hit the light he would become visible to the people inside. He had to be careful.

"Come and have a look at this!" an authoritative American voice called out. Alex froze as he recognised the voice from Ben's phone call. This was the boss! A short black-haired woman immediately responded; she ran right past Alex but thankfully didn't look his way.

Moving quickly, Alex squeezed himself behind a stack of oil drums in the semi-darkness. He crouched down to catch his breath, feeling his pulse racing and his heart hammering. He caught his breath as silently as possible. He was a little less exposed in this hiding place and he had a fairly good view of most of the hangar. The black-haired woman who had run by was now standing next to a tall dark-haired man. They were both looking at something on the floor, but their bodies obscured its view from Alex.

"Is that the ...?" the black haired woman exclaimed. She sounded excited. She also had a strangely melodic accent Alex couldn't immediately place.

The man shrugged. "I think so. Or what's left of it. We need to get it moved immediately. It's pretty destroyed so it could blow up if it gets jolted. Get Mark to secure it before anyone touches it."

Alex craned his neck, but he still could not see what they were looking at. It sounded like something must have damaged the weapons ... _If,_ he reminded himself, Ben had at least been telling some of the truth and this was indeed a weapons deal. The short dark-haired woman didn't look like an international arms dealer, but Alex had learnt not to go by appearances.

"Oi!" a voice suddenly yelled from the side door. Alex twisted round to find the four guards staring at him. They must have come back from their patrol and he'd been so engrossed in his thoughts he hadn't even heard the door reopen. Without even thinking about what he was doing, Alex shoved over a stack of oil drums, sending them rolling in the direction of the guards. He sprang to his feet and did the only thing he could, given the odds: he ran.

"What's going on?" a male voice called out from somewhere in the hall, but Alex was paying attention only to the pounding of boots on concrete behind him. He ducked into a small screened room on the far side of the hall, hoping against hope that these four men were the only guards on site. They couldn't be too far behind him, but he didn't have the time to turn around to check. He had seen an alarmed door at the other end of the room and knew he needed to reach it before they caught him. Once through there he could hide in the trees on the far side of the industrial estate or maybe try to get to his quad or even to the land rover - he'd taken the spare key on his way out.

"Stop!" a commanding voice shouted.

"Stop right there!"

None of the voices were Ben's, Alex couldn't help but notice with some relief. He kept going, praying they wouldn't use their guns. He had only a few metres to go. He sped up and hit the door with his shoulder, ignoring the glancing pain that shot through him from the impact and bursting out into the cold night air. Slamming the door to block the guards' view, Alex immediately turned to the left, to where he knew the undergrowth was the densest and would provide the best cover ... and almost ran straight into a dark figure standing in the shadows of the trees.

"And where do you think you're going?" an American voice demanded to know. It was the man from the warehouse - he must have used a different door to cut off Alex's escape! Alex spun round to try the other side, but the guards were already there forming a semi circle around him, rifles raised, blocking his way.

"Who are you?" the American asked.

Alex clenched his fists, ready to fight. "I can't answer that question," he hissed and at the same time, he twisted his body at the hips and landed a strong reverse side kick on the nearest guard. The man cried out in surprise and stumbled backwards, exactly as Alex had expected. Alex dived through the opening in the circle and almost made it past the surprised guards when one of them managed to grab his arm and swing him bodily back into the centre of the circle.

"Take off the mask," one of the guards ordered in a gruff south-east London accent. Alex hardly heard the demand; he had fallen back into a defensive crouch, ready to attack anyone who tried to get near him. He took a step back and realised only moments too late that he had forgotten about the American - a fist hit the side of his head and sent him stumbling to the ground with watering eyes.

_"I said take it off,"_ the Londoner repeated, grabbing one of Alex's arms and hauling him back to his feet. A blow to his knees made his legs buckle and he felt himself hitting the cold soil. He glared at the men. "Let me go," he hissed, angry at himself for having been captured so easily.

The American stepped forward and pulled the balaclava off Alex's head. He stood silent for a moment, shocked, then blinked as though trying to fix his vision. "A kid? What the fuck is going on?"

But Alex had no time to answer, for one of the remaining guards suddenly lowered his rifle and stared at Alex in amazement. "Alex? What the hell are you doing here? You've walked right into the middle of ... a training exercise."

Alex didn't know what to say as he watched the guard _– Ben – _reveal his face . The pain in his head was nothing compared to the sickening pain of seeing his lover standing there on the side of the bad guys. "You lied to me!" he hissed furiously, hating the whiny tone that had crept into his voice. He would have jumped up to confront Ben had the guards not still been holding him down on his knees. Ben didn't respond, but instead beckoned the American away from the group. Alex heard them talking in hushed voices, and then the American approached him once more.

"There's been a misunderstanding," he drawled, motioning for the guards to let go of Alex. "My authority supersedes that of MI6. You can go now."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Alex bluffed, but it sounded pretty weak even to him.

Ben spoke. "Alex, there is nothing going on here that concerns you or MI6. Did they send you to spy on me? Well, you can tell them that Torchwood has taken over the site and that everything is under control."

Alex glared at Ben. "You're going to let me just walk out of here?"

"Of course. Well, sort of. I'm going to have to drive you back to Bristol." Ben frowned as he continued. "Why wouldn't we let you leave? Alex, what exactly do you think is going on here?"

Alex's head was swimming. He didn't even know what he thought any more. "I think ..." he started, but trailed off. He had thought that Ben was betraying him. Now he didn't know ...

"Who are these guys?" Alex asked instead.

"We are Torchwood," the American answered. "We are like, I don't know, MI7 or something. Now why don't you go home to play with your toys. You're lucky Daniels here has run into you before or we'd probably have arrested you!"

Alex knew when to admit defeat, or at least he knew when to pretend he was admitting defeat. "Ok," he sighed, holding up his hands. "I'll go back to London. But can't you at least tell me what's going on here? It's obvious something is happening. Why all the secrecy if it's legitimate? What am I supposed to tell MI6?" The last question was a bluff; if these people thought he'd been sent by MI6 then maybe he could use that to gain some information. But the American looked genuinely irritated. "It's none of your business, kid. And it's none of MI6's business, but at least they know better than to ask stupid questions. Daniels, can you get him out of here?"

With those words, the American strode back to the warehouse, leaving the guards to accompany Alex and Ben to the land rover. "Come on," Ben said, "I'll take you back to the house. Maybe you should head back to London in the morning."

Alex scowled but snapped on his seatbelt. For a few minutes as they drove along the side of the woods by the industrial estate, Alex said nothing, but as soon as they hit the main road, he broke the silence. "What's going on? Why did you lie to me?"

Ben frowned. "It's best you don't know too much, Alex."

"But are you working for Special Forces or have you been seconded again to ... whoever those guys are?"

Rain had started to fall on the windscreen and Alex counted seven passes of the wipers before Ben finally spoke again. "It's more complicated than that Alex. Torchwood is ... well it's like ... it's a government organisation, but ... _different_. It's hard to explain and it's best that you didn't know too much. It would be best if you forgot all about tonight."

Alex snorted. As if he could forget! "You didn't have to lie to me, you know. You treat me like a child."

"You are a child."

Alex felt a flash of pain at those words. "I thought we trusted each other."

When Ben didn't respond, Alex turned to watch the darkness outside. Headlights looked blurry in the rain, matching the angry confusion in Alex's mind.

****  
_  
The woman watched as the land rover pulled into the driveway of the house. She knew the two men that got out didn't actually live here. The older man, the soldier, had rented the place for three weeks. He'd paid in advance, cash in hand. The other man _- boy - _had turned up at the start of the second week. But the house hadn't just been rented as an illicit love nest. The woman knew that the soldier was working for Torchwood._

More importantly, she knew that Torchwood had found the remains of an alien weapon that would provide its wielder with more power than could even be imagined. She watched the boy getting out of the land rover now. He looked angry and sauntered to the front door without looking back at the vehicle. For a moment, she thought the dark-haired soldier was just going to leave, but then he got out and followed the boy, stopping him with a touch to his arm. The woman couldn't hear what was being said, but after what looked like a heated exchange, the boy suddenly seemed to deflate. He was handsome enough, she had to admit, dark eyes and tousled blond hair. It was hard to tell how old he was, but she was confident he had not yet reached the age of consent. That made him perfect for the type of blackmail she had in mind.

She didn't look away as the boy allowed the soldier to embrace him. She had already photographically documented their steamy affair in enough detail to have the soldier convicted of statutory rape, misleading of a minor, and any number of other indecency charges. When they finally broke apart, the boy looked less aggrieved. She saw him smile weakly and nod. They exchanged a few more words and then the soldier returned to his vehicle and backed out of the driveway. She noticed how the boy's expression turned cold as he watched the land rover tail lights disappear into the rain. He stayed in the open doorway for another few minutes before finally turning into the house and closing the door.

The woman smiled darkly. She'd followed her intuition here tonight and once again it had paid off. Yes, tonight would be a good night to strike. Keeping an eye on the house to make sure the boy wasn't going anywhere, Adrienne flipped open her mobile phone and called her boss.

"It's time."_  
_

Alex felt so angry with himself. Angry for suspecting Ben of having changed sides, angry for having been stupid enough to get caught and angry for having let Ben make him go home and send him to bed like a naughty child. Angry also for trusting Ben to treat him as an equal when clearly the bastard thought nothing of him. He wasn't just a dirty little secret, he was dirty, tainted, unwanted. Alex couldn't believe he'd been so easily brushed off and a part of him wanted to head straight back to the warehouse and find out what this Torchwood business was all about. But he had no way of getting back to the industrial estate in the middle of the night. And Ben would be furious if Alex turned up there again. He was already pretty upset at Alex for following him, although really Ben had no right to be upset at all! If he hadn't lied and sneaked around then it wouldn't have been necessary.

Alex put on the kettle and slumped in a kitchen chair, waiting for it to boil. It had crossed his mind before that Ben was not really interested in him as a person but more as some kind of attractive novelty plaything. But then again, he hadn't quite worked out his feelings towards Ben either. He was attracted to the man. Very attracted; but he was also acutely aware of the age gap and a part of him refused to let himself be sucked into any kind of romantic fantasy. If Ben was using him, then he wanted to be using Ben for the same reasons. These things went both ways, and Alex was old enough to understand that, even if he couldn't quite control it.

The kettle clicked and Alex had just poured the boiling water into his teacup when the front door sounded. _Ben must have come back after all!_ Alex hurried to the door and opened it, expecting to see the tall frame of his lover. Instead a petite woman stood on the porch. She frowned when she saw Alex and took a step back as though to check the house number. Platinum blond hair plastered her face where it had been flattened by the rain.

"Oh. I'm terribly sorry," she said in a very proper accent. "I was looking for Mr Daniels. I must have the wro-"

"Who are you?" Alex interrupted. The woman looked up at him. She was still frowning but her expression looked hopeful now. "Do you know Mr Daniels? He's an old friend. I would like to-"

She stopped talking and suddenly pushed hard at the door, sending Alex stumbling a few steps back. "Do business with him," she finished in a cold voice. She took another step towards Alex, but he didn't hang around to find out more. Acting on pure instinct, he threw the contents of his cup in her face. Her squeal of pain told him he'd done some damage and he took advantage of her incapacitation to push past and through the open door.

How had they found him?

And how did they know about Ben?

And just _who_ were they anyway? Scorpia?

His mobile phone was lying on the kitchen counter and so he knew his only hope was to get to the main street where he could call for help. Ears still ringing from the screech of the injured woman, Alex jogged down the gravel driveway. As soon as he reached the gate, however, he knew he was trapped. Three silver Porsche Cayenne SUVs seemed to be taking up the entire street, their halogen headlights blinding Alex. Unfortunately, he wasn't blinded enough that he couldn't make out the dozen armed men that had assault rifles pointed at him. Their distinct shapes told Alex they were Heckler & Koch G3A4s. These guys weren't messing around.

Wearily, Alex raised his hands and within seconds, they'd been wrenched behind his back and cuffed. Then he was marched back to the house while one of the SUVs pulled into the driveway. The others started off down the road. Soon they were gone, leaving no trace of what had just taken place on this quiet Bristol residential street.

The blond woman was shaking with fury as Alex was frogmarched back into the house by two of the men. She still held one hand to her face, which had turned an interesting shade of red. Alex heard someone getting out of the SUV on the driveway but the men holding him did not allow him to slow down or turn around. Instead they led him straight into the living room. There, one of the men kicked out his legs from beneath him, bringing him to his knees for the second time that night. But this time, there was no Ben to step in - he was on his own.

A tall man with salt and pepper hair came into the living room, closely followed by the blond woman. He sneered down at Alex. "Well done, Adrienne. Are you sure this is the boy?" he spoke to the blond woman, seeming not to believe his eyes. "Isn't he a bit ... _young?_"

Alex was startled - the man's words seemed to indicate that it was not _him_ they were after. They didn't even know who he was! But Adrienne nodded, wincing at the pain from her face. "I promise you this is the boy. And judging by his reaction to my forced entrance, he's no stranger to this little game."

Alex regretted that hasty response now. It might have been easier to play dumb. "Who are you? What do you want with Ben?" he interrupted, making sure that he sounded as cowed as possible. He needed them to underestimate him.

The tall man cocked his head thoughtfully. "You're a feisty one. That's good - makes the job less pathetic."

A flutter of fear rose inside Alex. "What do you mean? Who are you?"

The tall man glanced at Adrienne. "Why did you attack my colleague? That wasn't a very nice way to greet someone at your door, was it?"

"I was scared," Alex muttered, looking down at the floor. The tall man chuckled. It came out as a deep gurgling sound, almost like he was choking. "Has anyone found a phone or blackberry or something?" he asked. One of the armed guards stepped forward and handed over Alex's iphone. The sight of it gave Alex hope - if only they allowed him to touch it, even for a split second, he would be able to send out a distress signal to MI6.

The tall man must have seen his expression, for he shook his head. "Don't even think about it, son. Now, do you have Ben Daniels' number here? Ah, yes. Excellent. Do you know anything of your ... ah, lover's work?"

Alex shook his head. "No, I mean, yes. He works in security. Patrolling on the industrial estate and stuff. He used to be in the army."

The tall man nodded. "Not bad, but I feel you know more. Come on, son, don't make this difficult for us all." He nodded to one of the guards behind Alex and all of a sudden an iron-like hand gripped the back of Alex's neck, fingers digging into tender nerve endings. Alex brought up his shoulders to alleviate the pressure, but the grip was sending electric jolts down his arms.

"He does! He works in security!" Alex insisted. This time he didn't need to fake the fear and pain in his voice.

"Who does he work for?" the man asked.

"I don't know! Really, I don't! He's out on the industrial estate right now. Why don't you talk to him? This has nothing to do with me!" His voice had reached a desperate pitch as he spoke and the fingers of the guard dug deeper and deeper. It felt like his neck was about to snap in half and his arms were trembling under the strain.

Adrienne observed Alex with a thoughtful expression on her scalded face. "We'll see how much he really cares about you. For your sake, let's hope he cares enough that he'll discuss a little ... business opportunity with us."

The woman took the phone from the tall man and touched the screen to dial Ben's number. It rang several times before Ben finally answered. "Alex, what the fuck are you doing calling me here? You know I can't-"

"This isn't Alex," Adrienne interrupted his tirade. "And you probably want to listen very carefully because I will only be saying this once. We have your little toy boy. We don't want to damage him, but we will do whatever it takes to get your cooperation. We are interested in some of the items Torchwood is salvaging."

"I want to talk to Alex," Ben demanded.

Adrienne laughed softly. "Not happening, Mr Daniels. We've been watching you for a long time. You and the other members of your team. We've documented your lives, looking for weaknesses. This boy of yours, Mr Daniels, strikes me as a _great_ weakness."

"I want to know that Alex is unharmed," Ben insisted.

The tall man, who hadn't moved throughout the entire conversation nodded at one of the guards. Immediately, the hand on Alex's neck moved to grip his hair instead, twisting and pulling, forcing Alex's head back. Alex bit his lip as the phone was thrust towards him. He refused to play their game. Restrained by his own hair, he was unable to avoid the backhand slap delivered by one of the other guards. The crack of the hand hitting his face was like a gunshot and the force of the blow almost sent him toppling over. He tasted blood, but glowered at his captors, refusing to make a single sound. His face stung and he was sure there would be fingerprints on his skin.

"Isn't he adorable?" Adrienne purred into the phone. She put it near Alex's face again, and this time he spluttered, "Ben. Don't do it. Whatever they want, don't do it. I'll be fine."

He heard Ben swearing out loud, his Liverpudlian accent rising in a crescendo. Adrienne laughed delightedly. "Actually, Mr Daniels, your boy here will only be fine if you do exactly as we say. Now listen carefully ..." She trailed off, glancing briefly down at Alex before leaving the room to continue the conversation out of the earshot. The tall man followed Adrienne, leaving Alex alone with the armed men. They looked like former servicemen and they had that self-satisfied look Alex had come to associate with mercenaries who had made their own fortune out of violence. There were four of them - one looking out of each window and the two still standing by Alex. The man who had hit him looked down at him with a sneer. "Suppose you're pissing your pants now, eh boy?"

Alex did not meet his eye. He knew that these odds were the best he would be getting for a while. He only needed to overpower a single guard to get a gun, and then he could shoot his way out if he had to. "This has nothing to do with me," he whispered in a small voice. "Why can't you just let me go?"

The man exchanged a look with his colleague and they both laughed out loud. One of the men by a window joined in while the fourth shook his head in amusement. Taking advantage of their distraction, Alex suddenly tensed all his muscles and rolled to one side, using the momentum of the move to get to his feet. His knees creaked painfully but they took his weight. Wasting not one second, Alex put his head down and charged straight into the nearest mercenary, sending them both crashing down. The man's head bounced against the floor and he lay completely still, hopefully knocked out. The other men were momentarily confused and simply watched as Alex twisted onto his back. He pulled his knees up high against his chest and managed to drag the chain of the cuffs underneath them, bringing his hands to the front of his body. His fingers were almost touching the rifle of the fallen mercenary when the other men finally reacted. Alex heard movement behind him and then something hard hit the back of his head, sending him face first into the carpet.

The impact with the floor jarred his jaw, but Alex managed to roll onto his back and bring up his hands in time to parry a second blow. The rifle smashed into his right wrist and he was sure he heard something crack. The pain winded him for a moment, but he managed to pull himself together in time to roll out of the way of a third attack, pushing himself to his feet with his good hand. He knew that he was fighting a losing battle now, but he couldn't bring himself to give up. He backed away as the three bulky men advanced on him. One of them swiped at him with his rifle and Alex made a pitiful attempt to grab it, but the pain of even that small movement made him feel a little dizzy. And then all the air was rushing from his lungs as one of the other mercenaries managed to land a crushing blow against his ribs. Alex staggered back and hit a wall. It was all he could do to try to protect his face. He wasn't aware of his legs giving way under the rain of blows and didn't realise he was curling up into a tight ball. He didn't pass out, but his mind seemed to shut out the reality of the beating. It was like his mind had distanced itself from his body and was watching from another part of the room. He didn't regain full awareness until the tall man returned with Adrienne.

"Stop!" he ordered, and the onslaught instantly ceased, leaving behind a wave of aches and pains. "We need the boy alive."

Alex's head throbbed. It felt bigger than usual and he could feel his pulse banging against his temple, but he managed to crack open an eye. He saw a splatter of blood on the carpet in front of him and was shocked to realise it had to be his own. He heard the click of his iphone taking a photo and knew that the bitch was sending it to Ben. He wished he could say sorry. Sorry for doubting Ben, sorry for putting him through this, sorry for being too young and too stupid to know better.

"Get him in the car," the tall man ordered. "And for god's sake make sure he is properly restrained! I want everything to run smoothly from now on."

***

The rain had intensified in the hour since Ben had dropped off Alex at the house. The Porsche Cayennes cut through the night. Alex knew where they were going even though he couldn't see anything. The interior of the SUV had been customised so that there were four seats facing each other behind the driver and passenger seats. The latter were occupied by one of the mercenaries and Adrienne, while the other three mercenaries and the tall man sat in the back. Alex had been thrown onto the floor between them. He'd tried to roll into a somewhat comfortable position, favouring his broken wrist and trying to avoid putting any pressure on his bruises, but every bump in the road sent fresh waves of pain through his body.

Luckily it wasn't a long drive and soon Alex was being roused by hands dragging him from the Cayenne and throwing him onto wet tarmac. He didn't recognise his surroundings, but immediately recognised the solitary figure standing in the dark.

"Ben!" he exclaimed and a flush of pain flooded his senses. "Don't. Whatever it is don't-"

A kick to the gut shut him up, but didn't stop him from glowering at his captors. And then Ben had rushed to his side. His dark eyes gave nothing away as he expertly checked Alex's injuries. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I have to do this."

He sounded so sad. Alex wasn't quite sure for what Ben was apologising, but he didn't have time to ask, for the tall man was approaching with a cruel smile on his face. "It's simple, Mr Daniels. You make sure that Torchwood is incapacitated so that we may enter to retrieve the device - and by incapacitated I mean I want to see _his_ cold corpse, are we clear? The alternative," he kicked Alex with enough force to roll him onto his back, "is a painful and violent death for this young man here. And," he added conspiratorially, speaking in an exaggerated whisper that was probably audible to the whole neighbourhood, "I will of course be feeling obliged to provide your superiors with evidence of your, _ah,_ illicit affair. When they find his body, they'll assume you tried to get rid of the evidence. After all, it would not do for your _deviant_ sexual tastes to be uncovered."

Ben did not look down at Alex, but the loathing in his dark eyes was strong as he glared at the tall man. "I'll do what you want," he snapped angrily.

"Twenty minutes," the tall man said coldly. "You have twenty minutes to do whatever it is you need to. Poison the others, kill them, lock them in a room. I don't care. But I want to see _that man_ dead!"

Through his painful haze, Alex wondered why the tall man was so scared of a single person. After all, he had so many armed mercenaries at his disposal that he could surely shoot his way in and out of the warehouse. Ben still did not look back at Alex as he retreated from the group and disappeared into a wooded area. Alex realised they had to be on the other side of the little copse right by the warehouse. He didn't have time to reflect on it, however, as he was bodily thrown back into the Cayenne. He managed to bite back a little whimper as his injured wrist hit the floor of the car, but he could not stop the single tear that rolled down his cheek.

****  
_  
Ben trudged through the muddy woods. By the warehouse, a figure waited for him. Alex would have recognised him only as the American who had cornered and caught him earlier on, but to Ben and to the rest of the soldiers working under Torchwood command he was known as Captain Jack Harkness._

"So they have the kid?" Jack asked, wiping rain from his face with the back of a sleeve.

Ben nodded. "Yeah they have him. They've roughed him up, too. I have no doubt they'll ... kill him." It hurt Ben to say those words. Hurt him even more because of the betrayal he'd already seen through. As soon as he'd received the call from Alex's iphone, Ben had taken a utilitarian decision and gone to Jack. He'd expected the man, reputed for his no-nonsense attitude, to laugh at his predicament, perhaps pass on the information to the general that had seconded Ben to Torchwood ... or maybe even to erase his memory and get rid of him. After all, Torchwood didn't have time for fuck ups like this. But Jack had seemed genuinely interested in Ben's dilemma. That's why he had sent Ben to the rendezvous to get a better feel for the type of people they were dealing with. The type of people who would beat a fifteen year old boy. Ben frowned. "I don't want him to die," he admitted.

"I'm more interested in who these guys are and how they found out about the weapon," Jack responded. "Were they heavily armed?"

"Yeah. Assault rifles, big cars, big money."

Jack smiled. "Makes it more fun. How long have we got to set a trap?"

"Twenty minutes," Ben answered nervously. He knew he'd done the right thing, coming to Jack, but he also feared for Alex's life. It had been a stupid fantasy, starting this affair with ... a school boy. Ben knew he should be ashamed of himself, but the attraction was too great. Despite their age difference, they had a lot in common. They didn't have to hide their true selves and didn't need to make any excuses. He knew he'd treated Alex badly by hiding his involvement with Torchwood and lying about the MI6 mission. He also knew he could have been kinder to Alex in other ways - more honest about his feelings. Then again, he hadn't been entirely certain of his feelings until the very moment he'd seen Alex beaten and bloodied. His heart seemed to clench inside his chest as that image came back. "Can we try not to hurt Alex?"

Jack stared at him. "Of course. You really care for the boy?"

Ben sighed. "Yeah. I think I really do."

Jack shrugged. "Look, Daniels, I'm not one to judge and I know what it's like to lose someone before getting the chance to tell them how much you care." His eyes looked sadder than Ben had ever seen, but then he seemed to pull himself together. "Let's not waste any more time."  


"What are we going to do with the boy?" Adrienne turned to ask from the passenger seat. Alex felt a boot nudge him. He looked up, catching the tall man's thoughtful expression. "If Daniels does as he's told, then we hold our side of the deal," he said.

Adrienne scowled, her scalded face making the expression look grotesque. "If you say so," she muttered, scratching the corner of her eye. She glanced at her watch. "Only ten minutes to go. Do you think Daniels can do it?"

"I think his life will be ruined if he doesn't. So yes, he can do it. Men like him work well under pressure," the tall man assured her.

The next ten minutes were the slowest of Alex's life, and considering he had been in much worse situations that was quite an achievement, but never before had Alex felt so guilty. He was keenly aware that whatever happened tonight, Ben would probably not want to see Alex again. He had allowed himself to get caught and used as a bargaining chip. He was stupid, stupid, stupid...

Finally the SUV engine started again. Alex could hear the other two Cayennes nearby and all three SUVs rolled across the wet tarmac, presumably heading to the warehouse. Alex found it hard to believe that it had only been a few hours since he himself had snuck into this warehouse. It felt like a lifetime ago. The night seemed to have darkened since then, probably because of the rain.

Ben stood alone by the open main gate of the warehouse. He approached the SUV and addressed Adrienne through the window. "The coast is clear. You can come on through."

"Where is _he?_"

"I've managed to ... well, I've done as you said. The body is inside. But you still need to hurry."

"Of course."

The SUVs drove straight through the gates, into the hangar. The mercenaries in the other two SUVs got out first, scouring the area with their rifles, before announcing it safe for the tall man to come out.

"Look after him," the tall man ordered, gesturing at Alex. "If anything goes wrong, shoot him."

One of the mercenaries immediately dragged Alex from the vehicle and gripped his arm firmly. Alex's eyes watered at the throbbing pain that consumed his wrist. He blinked around the brightly lit hangar, noticing wryly that the oil drums he had pushed over earlier on still lay scattered where they had settled. He saw Ben standing by a pile of metal objects. Ben seemed to be studiously avoiding Alex's gaze. Behind Ben a body lay on the floor and Alex's breath caught in his throat. It was the American!

"What have you done?" Alex exclaimed, his voice filled with horror as he observed the scene in front of him. He wrenched his arm free and ran to look at the body - a single bullet hole was visible, right between the eyes. "What have you done?" he repeated, staring at Ben with disbelief - surely his lover could not have been this easy to corrupt? For the umpteenth time that evening, Alex wondering if he knew anything about Ben Daniels at all. He flinched as the mercenary grabbed him again and pulled him away from the body. The other men had already started loading various metal components into one of the SUVs.

"Hurry up," Adrienne ordered. She was staring down at the body of the American. "You really killed him. You have some balls, Mr Daniels. Maybe you should consider a career change." Her eyes flicked over to Alex. "You've already chosen an alternative path in one aspect of your life."

Ben flushed, but did not respond to Adrienne's offer. Finally he turned and caught Alex's eye and Alex could see the raw emotion - fear, hope, desire - in his expression. "Alex. Don't judge me," he said softly. Adrienne laughed as Alex tried to work out what Ben was saying. And then he saw it, a tiny movement from a body that should have been dead. A twitch of a hand that should already have been cold.

Alex froze as a whistle sounded out from the far side of the warehouse. As the tall man, Adrienne and the mercenaries all turned to see what was going on, the American suddenly leapt to his feet, very much alive. An old fashioned revolver seemed to have appeared in his hand.

"What the hell?" one of the mercenaries exclaimed, just as the revolver spat out a single bullet that buried itself in his chest. The man went down with a cry. Adrienne screamed and the tall man threw himself back to his SUV as the other mercenaries raised their rifles and returned fire. The bullets ripped into the American, spraying blood everywhere. His body danced around under the onslaught for a moment before he collapsed again.

Alex tried to use the confusion to free himself, but he was unable to break his captor's grip. He could not stop the man from dragging him to the tall man's SUV and pushing him inside. The door slammed shut just in time as a hail of bullets smashed into it. They did not penetrate the metal, however. The bullets had come from the far side of the warehouse and Alex watched as the mercenaries turned to return fire. No sooner had they started shooting than the impossible happened: _the American got up again!_

Despite himself Alex stared at the tall man. "What the hell is going on?" he demanded. The tall man, for once, did not seem to have an answer.

"We need to get out of here. We've been tricked," Adrienne snapped, clambering from the passenger seat into the driver's position.

"Tricked how?" the tall man demanded to know. "How did that bastard survive a bullet to the head like that?"

"I don't know," Adrienne hissed, slamming the SUV into reverse. "I have no fucking idea what's going on here!"

Alex was thrown into a seat as the SUV lurched. Outside, bullets were still flying in all direction, clouds of dust and blood creating a grim mist. Where was Ben? His heart in his throat, Alex desperately tried to locate his lover in the mayhem. And when he finally found him he felt like someone had reached inside him and twisted hard. Ben was on the floor, bleeding, _dying_.

Wild horses couldn't have stopped Alex from getting out of the SUV. The pain in his broken wrist seemed to have disappeared; his injuries and bruises meant nothing. He threw off his captor easily, roaring with rage. "You stay right there, son," the tall man tried to block him, but Alex brought up his cuffed hands, two fists that smashed into the man's nose. Both he and Alex screamed out in pain, but the blow was a strong one and the tall man went down, clutching his face which seemed to have exploded in a red blossom of blood. And then Alex was outside, back in the middle of the gun fight. It was surreal, like being trapped in a movie. Behind him he heard the Cayenne rev up and race through the hangar to the outside.

Alex didn't have time to worry about the tall man and Adrienne escaping. He moved in a crouch until he reached Ben's side. "Ben," he whispered, automatically checking his lover's vitals and feeling a faint surge of hope when he found a strong pulse.

Ben looked up at him, his face flooding with relief. "You're alive. I'm sorry, Alex. I had to tell Torchwood what was going on. Those guys," he coughed, but Alex was relieved to see there was no blood. "They would have destroyed the country if they'd got their hands on this stuff."

Alex felt strangely proud of Ben. "You did the right thing," he promised. It was only then that he noticed that the gunfire had stopped. He carefully glanced around the warehouse hangar which was still almost misty with the chaos of the shooting. The mercenaries were all down and the remaining two SUVs were silent and smoking. Several figures were approaching from the far side of the warehouse. Ben's three colleagues seconded from Special Forces were amongst them as well as the small black-haired woman Alex had seen earlier on. She hardly gave Ben a second glance, although a look of distaste crossed her face when she saw Alex. She rushed straight to the American, who was once again getting to his feet, stretching as though waking up from a restful slumber. He looked down at his blood soaked torso. "Shit, I really liked this jacket," he complained with a wry smile, making the woman laugh fondly.

"You're a brave little thing," the American suddenly commented, walking rapidly towards Alex and Ben. Alex stood up as straight as he could, but he was unable to hide his injuries. "Who are you?" he returned.

The American laughed. "Straight to the point. I like that. I'm Captain Jack Harkness, head of Torchwood." He produced a handcuff key, winking at one of his colleagues as he said: "Luckily I always have one of these on me. You never know. There you go. Anyway, I'd love to stay and chat, but we got some bad guys to catch!"

And with those words, the bloodstained Captain Jack turned away from Alex and strode towards the entrance of the warehouse, closely followed by the black haired woman and two other of his colleagues. The others stayed in the hangar with the Special Forces men, who glanced uneasily at Ben and Alex. "We'd better go," Ben mumbled. "The land rover is outside."

He clutched his side with a gasp as he got up, making Alex try to catch his weight with his good hand. Alex cried out and then couldn't help but laugh a little at how strange the situation was. They looked at each other and for the first time since the start of their relationship, Alex could see genuine fondness in Ben's eyes. He smiled a little. "I'll do the pedals, you do the gears?" he offered. Ben nodded.

"We really should call an ambulance or two, but ..."

"Too much to explain?" Alex finished, gazing around the destroyed warehouse.

Ben nodded again. "Yeah. Best not let anyone else find out about the alien weaponry."

Alex froze. It was like someone had poured ice into his veins. "Alien?" he asked, his voice so quiet he hardly heard it himself.

There was a heavy silence. Then, "I'll tell you everything in the car, Alex. _Everything, always_. Come on, let's go home."

Supporting each other as best they could, they shuffled to the side door that led to the car park. Alex turned to survey the hangar one last time, before stepping out into the darkness. Sometimes you had to come close to losing something to realise how much it meant to you. Perhaps that was true for the both of them. With a peaceful smile, he let the door slam shut behind them.

**THE END**


End file.
